The American Dental Association laid out the main COVID-19-related concerns the administration of President-elect Joe Biden needs to address within its first 100 days to ensure dental providers can effectively serve patients throughout the pandemic.
In a Nov. 30 letter to President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, the ADA urged the new administration to prioritize the following seven measures:
- Inclusion of dentist advisors in the appropriate federal entities, especially a permanent chief dental officer at CMS.
- Inclusion of dentists in the first phase of COVID-19 vaccine allocation.
- Ensuring personal protective equipment and medical supplies are available to dental offices throughout the pandemic.
- Temporary and targeted liability protection for small businesses following applicable COVID-19 public health guidelines.
- Reversal of the provisions in CMS' recent interim final rule that allows states receiving additional Medicaid funding to remove optional benefits, such as dental care.
- Advocacy on behalf of the dental community concerning its operating room access issues, which have been made worse by the pandemic.
- Decreased regulations on dental providers within the Medicaid program.
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